BK's Korner, 6/24/2024

BK’S KORNER
In basketball when you win a championship there’s one thing you always do. You cut down the net. It doesn’t matter what level. Whether high school, Junior college, Major College. It makes no difference, if you win the championship, you cut down the nets. Back in my day you would hoist your teammates on your shoulders so they could reach up there and cut them down.  Today they bring ladders out. Makes no difference, they both accomplish the same thing. The winning team cuts down the net.  The point, cutting down the net meant you were the champions.

There was a very famous College basketball coach by the name of Jim Valvano.  He coached the North Carolina State Wolfpack from 1980-1993. In 1983 he coached his team to a most unlikely NCAA Championship over the Houston Cougars.  You real sports aficionados will remember this Houston team as Phi Slamma Jamma. Jim Valvano’s Wolfpack were not given a chance to win, but they defied the odds and won the championship. Of course, they cut down the nets. 

When Jim Valvano took over as head coach in 1980, he wanted his players to believe they were going to win the championship one day. He did something that no other coach has ever done as far as I know.  Two times a year at practice the team practiced only one thing. Two times a year, at practice, they practiced cutting down the nets.  Are you catching that?  They practiced being champions! At the time they hadn’t won anything.  However, they practiced what would happen when they won it all. I just cannot get over it.  I think about it a lot and I exclaim often to myself, “They practiced being champions!”

What would it mean for a Christian to be a champion? How would we practice that? In Mark 9:33-35 Jesus and His disciples are traveling to Capernaum. When they arrive Jesus asked them what they were arguing about while they travelled. They were embarrassed because they had been talking about which one of them would be the greatest in heaven. Of course Jesus knew what they were talking about so he gathered them together and said, “… If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” In other words a champion in God’s kingdom puts others first and serves everyone.  We need to practice being champions.

We need to serve others. This is the way we serve God. This is the way we practice being champions.  We help those in need. We help people carry the burdens of their lives. We feed the hungry. Visit the sick. We act kindly in the community. Let us be known for how we serve. This is how we become champions in God’s kingdom. Let’s Practice being Champions!

Hope you all have a great week.
Be Immovable and Impenetrable (Like Mt Zion).
Pray for FBC.
Pray for your One.
Pray for our Community.
Pray for VBS.
Invite someone to Sit By You.
Join a Sunday School Class.
Practice Being a Champion.

Love and Blessings to you all
BK ><>